Camp Out
by DPcrazy
Summary: Right after CotW. It all starts when Danny is sent away to ghost boot camp. But the real problem is when, during their hike, the rest of the campers are sucked into a natural poral. But how can Danny lead them back out when he's in trouble himself?
1. The Messenger

**Looky! I finally decided to writ a new fic! Actually, I've had this idea for almost a year but was too busy with everything else to write it. The idea is pretty common, but I've tried to spice it up a bit. Tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Danny Phantom, I wouldn't be on here, would I?**

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"All, right, campers!" Tetslaff boomed early one morning.

All of the kids at Camp Eerie had bags under their eyes and were slumping while yawning tiredly. Tetslaff was holding a big meeting out front. Although, most of the campers were wondering why on Earth she couldn't have held it in the afternoon when they were _awake_.

"As you know," she continued loudly, "In two days, we will be holding the big hike and camp-out. Now, I expect you all to be prepared. That means clothes, sleeping bags, tents, food. Got it?"

Everyone nodded tiredly.

"I said; got it?!" she barked, startling everyone into nodding their heads more energetically.

"Good."

"Aw, man. What a drag," Danny complained. "I'm still tired from taking care of our latest Walker incident. A camp-out is not what I need."

"Not to mention the hike," Tucker added, looking just as unenthusiastic.

"You guys are such wimps," Sam scoffed, taking a faster stride in front of her friends and towards the cabins. Danny and Tucker had to run to catch up with her.

As they ran off, a figure in a cloak reported under her breath, "I see him. Should I go now?"

A voice on the other end replied, "Wait until no one else besides his two friends is around him. Then you may go."

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Later that night, Danny and Tucker were peering out their cabin door. It was dark out and none of the cabins had any lights on.

"Dash and Kwan still asleep?" Danny whispered to his friend.

Tucker glanced back and then nodded.

"Good. C'mon, Tuck. Let's go before someone catches us."

In near silence, the boys crept out and away from their cabin. They made a point of sticking to the shadows and avoiding talking. Waking up the others would get them in some serious trouble. The beam of Tucker's flashlight was only dimly lighting their path and both had stumbled at some point. They could have just flown, but Danny thought that it would be too risky for various reasons. Finally, the two reached a clearing. Sam was waiting for them.

"Well, it's about time," she snapped playfully.

"Sorry," Danny apologized, "we had to wait for everyone to fall asleep."

"Uh-huh," she said with a nod and smirk. "Now can you tell us what's up?"

"And _why_ you dragged us out here at midnight. Sam might be nocturnal, but I need my sleep," Tucker butted in.

"I had to wait until we were alone. Something weird is happening," Danny started to explain.

"Ghostly weird?" Sam prodded.

"Yeah," the half-ghost replied. "My ghost sense has been going off all day. I think another portal opened up."

"And we have to go look for it?" the techno-geek whined.

"What are we supposed to do? Just wait until they come and attack?" Danny exclaimed. "Having ghosts run around during the hike would be a total disaster."

"Danny's right," Sam agreed. "After what just happened, I think the whole class would suffer from trauma if…"

She was cut off by Danny's ghost sense. He glanced at his friends as they immediately put on the wrist rays Danny had asked them to bring. Danny wasted no time in changing into his alter ego; Danny Phantom. There was a rustling sound and the leaves of the foliage in front of them moved a little. Danny adopted a battle stance as Sam and Tucker charged up their wrist rays and aimed them at the bushes.

"Alright, come out, whoever you are," Danny demanded.

There was more stirring and a figure in a purple cloak emerged from the forest. The cloak covered the ghost's entire body and the hood was pulled up, leaving its face devoured by shadow. Two bright red eyes shone through the darkness, though, indicating where the ghost's eyes were. Two green hands poked out of the long sleeves and reached for the hood. Swiftly, the being pulled the hood down to reveal a green-skinned young woman with pale blond hair that had been tied back and decorated with a faded blue headband.

The three teens gasped in surprise and recognition. Together, they chorused her name.

"Dora?"

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**And so ends the first, incredibly short chapter. Sorry, but that was just a good place to stop. I know there's not much to say right now, so I'm not going to say "please review!" I'll save that for the next chapter.**


	2. Heading Out

**Yay! I got the second one done! And look! It's a tiny bit longer!**

**Disclaimer: You'd know if I owned DP because Danny would be goth, too.**

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"Sir Phantom and friends, it is nice to see you again," she replied with a low curtsey. "I have a message for you."

Danny looked at her incredulously. "A message? From who?"

"From an elite group of ghosts, including your allies and various others," she answered simply. Then, she seemed to get a bit nervous. "They have requested that you report to the Ghost Zone for…training."

Danny blinked in confusion. "Training? What kind of training?"

"They want to help you develop your powers further as many of them believe you to be a great line of defense and feel that your existence enforces order," she tried to explain, still looking edgy.

"Wait a minute," Tucker piped up. "You mean that Danny's going to ghost boot camp?"

Dora paused. "In a way; yes."

"Uh, in case you guys haven't noticed, we're in the middle of summer camp! We can't just sneak Danny away for who-knows-how-long…" Sam began, but was cut off.

"A few weeks," Dora added.

"We can't just sneak Danny away for a few weeks. Besides, I don't know how much I trust this whole 'ghost boot camp' thing and Danny's doing fine on his own," the goth finished.

"I think I'm with Sam on this one," Danny agreed. "It'll be suspicious if I just vanish into thin air."

"A plan has already been made," the ghost informed. "I have been ordered to overshadow the leader and have her excuse you from this human camp, but make sure that she will not call your parents or question her decision. Then, I will lead you through a pre-planned ghost portal that will lead to the briefing room."

Danny sighed. "Is this really necessary?"

"They feel it is." Dora looked to him with a slight amount of pity. "I will come for you tomorrow. Be ready by then. Goodbye, Sir Phantom." She gave a little wave as she faded away.

Danny turned to his friends despairingly. "Looks like I better start packing."

They all began the walk back to camp.

"Hey, maybe it won't be so bad. If nothing else, I bet the food will be better. You can't get much worse than Camp Skull and Crossbones Surprise," Tucker teased.

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The next morning, Danny was sitting in the cabin with Tucker, a backpack situated by his feet. He drummed his fingers on his thighs nervously. Dora would be coming for him soon.

Someone rapped on the door. The voice of Mr. Lancer called out, "Daniel Fenton! Ms. Tetslaff wants to see you in the front office! And bring your things; you're leaving."

The half-ghost stood up and grabbed his packed bag.

"So, ready to say goodbye to Camp Skull and Crossbones?" Tucker asked.

Danny smirked. "Yeah. Bye, Tuck. I'll see you later."

"Bye, dude!" Tucker bid as Danny left.

The door to the front office squeaked as Danny pushed it open a few minutes later. He saw the hulking form of Ms. Tetslaff at the desk, but he knew from the red eyes that it was really Dora.

"Hey, Dora," he greeted casually. "Time to go?"

The ghostly woman phased out of the teacher and smiled, giving Danny a little nod in confirmation. They left while Ms. Tetslaff was still dizzy from being overshadowed. Outside, Danny transformed and followed Dora. They flew over the trees in silence. Danny was gazing sadly at the world below him, knowing that he wasn't going to lay his eyes on the human world again for a few weeks.

Dora finally began to descend, Danny right behind her. There, deep in the forest, a small ghost portal hovered. The half-ghost gripped his backpack straps tightly.

"Are you ready?" Dora questioned.

"Ready as I'll ever be," the teen answered. He flew into the portal and arrived in the swirling green void known as the Ghost Zone. Dora came in after him. She pointed to a floating building a little ways away.

"There," she stated. "That's the briefing room. We must hurry. We do not want to keep them waiting."

Danny followed after her, gazing anxiously around at the strange land. He might as well get used to it if he was going to be here for a while. A few minutes passed before they reached their destination. Dora carefully led them through the door.

"Leave your bag here," she ordered.

Danny obeyed and slipped the heavy pack from his shoulders.

Dora pointed to a doorway ahead of them. "Go through that door. There is where you will be informed about this situation. I wish you luck."

Again, the boy complied without complaint. He anxiously stepped down the hall and pushed open the heavy door at the end. The room before him was almost too dim for him to see in and he felt extremely tense entering.

"Uh…hello?" he called.

An overhead light instantly flashed on, blinding him for a moment.

"Welcome, oh Great One," a deep voice boomed.

"Frostbite?" Danny asked in surprise, turning to his left to see the leader of the Far Frozen approaching. "What's all of _this_ about?"

"Some of the other ghosts tend to be overdramatic," the snow-beast responded, clearly not understanding why they had gone through the little procedure.

"Indeed, they do," another voice agreed.

Danny noticed a cloaked figure approaching.

"Clockwork? You, too?"

The ghost nodded. "Apparently, they find this important enough to involve me."

"Who else is here?" inquired the half-ghost.

In response, a whole new group of spirits approached. Among them, Danny recognized a smaller, less intimidating version of Pandora. There were also many other cloaked ghosts as well as two Observants. He swore that he could've passed out on the spot.

"Okay, I'm officially confused," Danny announced.

One of the ghosts who wore a thick cloak and hood floated closer. "Then let us clear this up. All of us here agree that you may be one of our best defenses should the Ghost Zone ever fall into turmoil. We also acknowledge that you, although only half-ghost, stand as a powerful being that many-a-ghost have grown to respect, even if they may not blatantly show it. For those reasons, we have decided that it would be best to help you further your abilities and your control over them in case we need to call upon you for help."

"Which is why this system has been created," another ghost added. "Each day has been set up and a training schedule has been planned. You will be notified of that day's activity each-what I believe you humans call-morning. As your proclaimed guardian, Clockwork will assist you with your first task."

The ghost joined the group again. Danny noticed Clockwork turning to leave. Danny followed.

"Good luck, Danny Phantom!" Frostbite wished.

After Danny had left the room, still utterly confused, Pandora approached the leader of the Far Frozen. "It does not look like he suspects anything. Seems as if he fell for all of that talk about training him to be our defense."

"He has no reason to suspect otherwise," Frostbite said flatly. "As long as no one slips, he should never know."

"Do you think it is very fair of us not to tell him?"

Frostbite glanced at the place where the young half-ghost had just left moments ago. "He is better off not knowing."

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**I hope this added more drama and more of a plot. So, now I can say "review, please!"**


	3. Moving In

**Forgive me, this is the boring chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to come up with a snappy way to say that I don't own Danny Phantom.**

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"Clockwork, why did Frostbite call you…my guardian?" Danny asked in confusion as he flew beside the time master.

Clockwork stared straight ahead. "I take it you remember the alternate future incident?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"I changed time for you and influenced you to make the right decision. Because of that, the Observants labeled you as my responsibility and it would be my job to make sure that you don't spiral out of control. The other ghosts translated that into me being your guardian."

Danny looked at the ghost's face for a moment. It stayed serious whether he was old or young.

"Alright, but what's this 'first task' thing?" the teen inquired a few seconds later.

A sigh escaped the master of all time. "Do you have no patience?"

"Sorry," Danny apologized, looking a little embarrassed.

"Do you see all of the doors we are passing?" questioned Clockwork, obviously leading into something.

"Yes."

"I know for a fact you are already aware that each leads into another ghost's lair. That is where they reside while here in the Ghost Zone." The ghost checked Danny's expression to see if it had clicked yet.

"So…I'm supposed to…"

"Create a lair? Yes," Clockwork finished for him. "A pre-determined location has already been selected."

They came to an empty spot. Looking around, Danny realized that there weren't many doors floating around; just a few. This must have been the place.

"First, you need to think of what you want your 'lair' to look like," Clockwork instructed.

Danny closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. "Okay, got it."

"Now put your hands in front of you and imagine that you are walking through a door into that lair. You must concentrate and be sure to project some of your ghostly energy."

Danny followed the orders. His face scrunched up and he squeezed his eyes shut from the strain. It was much harder than Clockwork made it sound. Finally, he gave in and let his hands fall.

"Open your eyes, Danny."

The boy inhaled sharply as he did so. A purple-tinted door just like all of the others had formed in front of him. Although, the markings on the wood were strange. It was covered in looping lines and swirls, creating an interesting pattern. Danny stared curiously at it for a minute.

"Would you like to go inside?"

"Oh, right," the half-ghost muttered. He took hold of the doorknob and pushed it open gently. At least it didn't creak. He walked in and smiled. Yep just as he imagined it.

Danny was now staring at an almost exact replica of his room. The only differences were that a bathroom was attached, it was _clean_, it was slightly bigger, and his walls were free of NASA posters. He gazed at the ceiling and smiled. There was one more difference. Above him was now a live image of the night-time sky. He carefully set down his backpack by his bed.

"I'll let you settle in," Clockwork said as he floated off, the door closing behind him.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all," Danny mused.

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Back at camp, Sam was pacing like crazy. If she kept it up, Tucker would have been dizzy just from watching her.

"Jeez, Sam, calm down," Tucker placated.

"How can I calm down when Danny could be in danger at this very moment and I wouldn't know it?!" she screamed, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Sam, it's ghost training camp, not a survival mission," the geek pointed out.

"That doesn't mean it's not dangerous," she spat. "For all we know, that wasn't really Dora and this could all be a trap. I'm telling you, something about this isn't right!"

Tucker stood up from the bench he was sitting on. "Or, he could be perfectly fine and you're just being paranoid." The boy took a few steps toward his cabin. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go pack for the camp-out. I have to find a way to sneak my PDA into my bag."

Sam sighed and looked up. "Please be okay, Danny."

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Danny was startled awake by a loud knocking on his door. Some unknown voice called out, "Hurry up or you'll be late!"

Danny yawned and got up. He was still in ghost form since that was probably the more sensible form to stay in the Ghost Zone in. Tiredly, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and opened the door to find a 

schedule stuck to it. He picked it up and went back inside, reading it carefully. "First day, physical training with Captain Strout. Well, how bad could it be?"

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Danny landed face first in a puddle of mud.

"Get up, Cadet! You still have three more laps!" a large, muscular ghost woman commanded. She looked similar to Tetslaff in several ways, but her hair was short and green while her skin was impossibly pale. She was dressed in a pale gray army suit and wore an army cap.

The ghost boy shoved himself off of the ground and continued running. He was beginning to discover just how hot running around in army uniforms could be, not to mention how difficult it was to run in combat boots. "How the heck can Sam run in these things?" he wondered, glancing down at the boots.

He jumped up and started making his way across a set of monkey bars, sweating as he did so. Physical strength never was his best feature. He hopped down and ran back to the beginning of the obstacle course while Captain Strout shouted, "Keep going, keep going!"

Danny approached the tire exercise and tripped again after the first few tires. He sighed. "This is going to be a long day."

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It was too early for even morning people to be up, the sky was gray, and a group of grumpy teenage campers were backpacking along a sloping trail. Tucker was one of the slowest of the group, practically crawling up the slight incline. Sweat was already pouring down his face. Meanwhile, Sam was walking effortlessly next to him, looking down at him with an eyebrow raised.

"This goes beyond sad," she commented.

"Well…not all of us…can be…mountain climbers," he panted.

"Tucker, it's barely even a hill," she snapped.

The geek glared at her.

Lancer panted. "Maybe…now would be…a good time…for a break," he suggested hopefully to the other councilor.

"Fine. Drop your bags, campers! Break time!" Tetslaff hollered.

The group gladly obliged and let the bags down with a loud thud. Following that action, they collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, suck it up you sissies," Tetslaff boomed. "We only have a mile left."

Most of the teens groaned. Then, one of them screamed. Everyone looked at Mikey, who was shaking and pointing into the forest.

"Look!" he screeched. Everyone followed his finger and gasped when they saw a green glow coming from the forest.

"_Of course_ Danny's absent right when something ghostly happens," Sam muttered, cursing their luck.

"C'mon," Tucker whispered, "maybe we can sneak off and take care of it."

Before they had the chance to anything, the green glow grew, stretching out further until it revealed itself as a portal. Everyone screamed as it enveloped the area and sucked them all in. Into the Ghost Zone.

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**Like I said, basically, jst the set up for the rest of thestory. Next chapter will be better. I promise!**


	4. Lost and Found

**Disclaimer: Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom. In case you haven' figured it out yet, my name isn't Butch.**

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"What happened?! Where are we?!" Dash screamed, clutching his head and panicking. The rest of the group began to murmur anxiously as well.

"Please don't tell me we're where I think we are," Tucker groaned, looking around at the vast expanse of green only broken by small islands and floating purple doors.

"The Ghost Zone," Sam breathed, taking a look around. "That thing must've been a natural portal."

"What are the odds that a natural ghost portal would open up right where we were hiking and suck us all in?" Tucker wondered.

"Listen up, students!" Lancer boomed, sounding much steadier than he actually felt. "As you may have noticed, we are no longer on the trail. I do not know of out whereabouts, but we need you to remain calm until we can figure this out."

Sam suddenly got an idea. "Tucker, Danny's in the Ghost Zone, too! If we find him, he can help us out of here!"

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to do that?" the geek wondered.

His question was answered as a new voice entered the scene. Just the sound of it had quickly caused all of the campers to shut up.

"What the heck are you guys doing in the Ghost Zone?!"

The owner of the voice was none other than Danny Phantom himself, still clad in the army gear, which caused people to have to look twice before recognizing him. The realization of his sudden appearance caused a new wave of more excited whispers. He would get them out of there.

"Danny…er…Phantom!" Sam called, stumbling over her words. She waved frantically. Danny swiftly landed next to her.

"Mind explaining?"

"Boy, are we glad to see you," Sam whispered. "A natural ghost portal opened up and sucked us all in."

The ghost boy nodded in understanding. Then, he proceeded to fly back up to where he was before so that his voice would carry and everyone could see him. "Alright, everyone, calm down. I'm gonna get you out of here. Just…"

He didn't get to finish that sentence as a loud voice called out, "Cadet!"

The half-ghost cringed and his eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

The large ghost woman known as Captain Strout immediately flew up, looking very ticked off. She glared at Danny. "Attent-hut!" she barked, forcing Danny to shakily raise his hand in a salute and 

straighten up. "Break was over two minutes ago and camp is in the other direction, what are you doing here?"

"Um…I…uh…" he stuttered, quivering simply because of the demanding being's presence.

"Speak up, soldier!"

"I was on break when I noticed a group of humans in the Ghost Zone and I was just about to help them get back!" he blurted quickly.

"Is that so?" she questioned, glancing over his shoulder at the terrified group of humans.

"So…can I?" he requested hesitantly.

"Yes, you may…after your lesson," she answered with a cruel smirk.

"But I can't just leave them here!" he argued.

"They can watch." She seemed to find this sadistically funny.

"Great, an audience," he muttered.

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No one could restrain a laugh as Danny managed to get his foot caught in the climbing net and ended up hanging upside-down as his foot was still entangled.

"Untangle yourself and keep going!" Captain Strout ordered.

A loud thud signified that Danny had hit the ground after successfully untying himself. Another chorus of giggles erupted from the viewing crowd. Danny ignored them and got up and continued running. He hopped up and grabbed onto the monkey bars, skillfully swinging from bar to bar. However, he only made it half-way across.

Danny suddenly stopped swinging and kept both hands on the same bar. He gripped it tightly, his face going askew.

"Keep going, Cadet!" the captain urged.

Danny didn't move. Instead, he dropped, collapsing onto the ground ungracefully. The hat fell off his head upon impact. He rolled over and tried getting onto his hands and knees, now gripping his head. A few of the students took a step forward, but Captain Strout held up a hand.

"Hold it," she ordered. Quickly, she jogged over to Danny and bent down. His face was about three shades paler than it should have been. "Phantom," she called softly, using his name instead of her little nickname; Cadet, "What's wrong?"

The boy shook his head quickly and took his hand away. He slowly opened his eyes as he stood up. "Nothing, just a headache." He grabbed his hat and placed it back on, starting to run again. He still looked a little pained, though and his breathing was off.

"Phantom!" she called. He stopped and turned. "I think we can end the lesson early. Shower, change, then go help your friends."

He gave her a little smile before disappearing through a doorway.

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"What was that all about?!" Sam practically shouted the moment Danny returned, signature jumpsuit and all.

"Jeez, calm down. It was just a headache," the boy assured. "Can't you save this until we get back to Amity Park?"

"Fine, but the _moment_ we get back…" she trailed in a threatening tone.

"Right, got it," he grumbled. The half-ghost turned to the group of students and teachers. "Everyone, listen up! I've asked a friend of mine if she could help get you all back home."

At these words, Dora flew up in dragon form. A few students began to freak.

"Don't worry, I promise that she's totally harmless…when she wants to be. My friend, Dora, has agreed to carry most of you since I will only be able to take a small group; four at the most. I'll come around and tell you where to go. Thank you."

Danny then walked over to Dora. "Thanks, Dora," he said quietly to her.

"It would be my honor, Sir Phantom," she replied politely.

Danny then turned back to the group. He sighed as he walked forward, ready to start the rescue mission. First, he walked over to the teachers. He should get them settled before the rest of the students.

"Uh, hi," he greeted sheepishly. "I figured that since you guys are the leaders, I should probably ask whether you guys wanted to ride dragon-back or not." He rubbed his neck nervously as he asked.

"Someone has to keep those rascals in check," Tetslaff declared, "I'll go with the dragon." She walked in the direction of Dora.

Danny exhaled slowly and turned back to Mr. Lancer, who looked confused as to who he should go with. On one hand, he really didn't want to go with the dragon, but on the other hand, he wasn't about to put all of his faith in Phantom after that freak headache. For a moment, he simply glanced between the two.

"Me it is," Danny decided after waiting too long. No, he didn't _want_ to carry around Mr. Lancer, but he knew that his teacher wouldn't be able to handle riding with Dora. The boy then moved on to the rest of the group. In the end, he ended up with only Sam, Tucker, and Lancer. Of course, everyone had been fighting to ride with him, so in the end he just decided it would be better if no one else did. And with everyone prepared, they set off in search of the Fenton Portal.

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Back in the meeting room, Captain Strout walked in. She was greeted by Clockwork.

"Well?" he asked.

"He's beginning to show signs," she reported flatly, but with a very subtle undertone of disappointment. "He showed low performance capability and collapsed from a sudden headache."

Clockwork nodded, taking in the information. He began to turn around, but Strout stopped him.

"There's something else you need to know," she announced. "A group of humans has been sucked into the Ghost Zone. Phantom's trying to bring them back now."

The ghost of time kept his face void of any emotion as he began to leave once more. "Why must things always be so difficult with Danny?"

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**Any new theories yet? I know there were definately a heap of hints in this one. BTW, all of your questions that I left unanswered will eventually be answered through the story.**

**Sadly, I will soon be running back into my old "overdramatic" routine. It's a bad habit.**


	5. Dead End

**Time for the next chapter! (And cue overdramtic-ness)**

**Disclaimer: If I had a dollar for everytime I had to put up the diclaimer that I don't own Danny Phantom, I'd have a nice-sized college fund.**

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"Huh?" Danny blurted dumbly upon seeing a specific void of green. Everyone else was standing on a local island as Danny circled the spot several times. "This doesn't make sense. The portal should be right _here_."

"Maybe we're lost," a student suggested. "Everything looks the same to me."

"No way," Danny replied, flying over to the group. "I know how to get here from almost any point in the Ghost Zone. The portal must be closed."

"Just our luck," Sam mumbled, crossing her arms in frustration.

The ghost boy sighed. "I wonder if Frostbite will let me use the Infi-map again."

"It's worth a shot," Tucker confirmed.

Danny took a deep breath and faced the rest of the group again. "Okay, so Plan A is a no-go. But, I might be able to find another way out. Everyone, get back to where you were before. The next stop's kinda far away."

A groan escaped everyone as they got ready to leave again. Sam, Tucker, and Lancer grouped near Danny again. The boy sighed. "This is going to be a very long day."

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Danny had everyone wait outside while he went into the Land of the Far Frozen alone. He didn't think the ice creatures would be happy if he brought along everyone else. Heck, they probably wouldn't be happy to see him, either. Not after the ice power training incident.

Danny met a guard at the entrance. "Huh, I don't remember a guard ever being here." He slowly walked forward and gave a small wave. "Um, hi," he greeted.

The guard straightened up and held his spear tightly. "What is your business here?"

"I've come to see Frostbite," Danny stated, feeling a bit awkward.

"Our leader is not present at the moment. He is not expected back until much later. You may return and see him then," the guard reported.

"Oh," Danny uttered, not expecting that response. "Well, okay." Danny flew back down the tunnel, feeling both confused and a bit disoriented. The vast expanse of green became visible and he flew for it, coming back out of the ice tunnel and upon the group. He looked at them sadly and shook his head. "And there goes Plan B."

The campers groaned some more.

Danny landed by his friends. "This is just one nightmare after another. Not only is Frostbite not going to be back until tomorrow, but now, we have to figure out something to do with everyone."

Dora shifted into the form of a woman, much to the amazement of the group, and floated over to Danny. "I am sorry, Sir Phantom," she apologized. "I would offer them to stay at the castle, but there is not a single space left available."

"Thanks, anyway, Dora," Danny said gratefully. The ghost took that as her cue to be dismissed from the conversation. He began rubbing his head. "There's only one place left I can think of, but it's definitely going to be a load of trouble."

His two friends blinked in confusion and glanced at each other. "Where?"

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The group landed at their destination, landing on another rocky shelf. The half-ghost faced the entire group. "I have some good news and some bad news," he announced. "The bad news is that there's absolutely no way out until tomorrow." This earned the expected response; a massive moan. "The good news is that I _do_ have a place that you can all stay until then. But, there are a few things I'd like to go over first." Everyone looked extremely confused. "First off, no touching anything. Everything in there is private property and I'd appreciate it if it'd stay that way. Second, it might be a bit cramped, so please refrain from running around or causing a major disturbance. Third, try to behave. We're in a bad enough situation as it is, don't make it worse."

"Wait a minute, where are we?" Dash questioned.

Danny paused for a moment, glancing among the faces of the campers and councilors. "My place."

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Dora reported back to the meeting building. Clockwork and Frostbite were standing there, waiting.

"He's taken them to his own domain," she reported with her head bent down. "I am afraid that their presence may complicate things."

"Indeed, it will," Clockwork agreed.

"How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Frostbite demanded. "The humans could get hurt! Especially if…"

"I understand, Frostbite," the time ghost interrupted. "However, there is nothing we can do. Danny will insist on staying close to the humans. We cannot risk more souls than necessary. The most we can do now is pray that everything runs as smoothly as possible."

The snow beast nodded in understanding, even though he did not favor the answer.

"For once," Clockwork continued, "we are in a situation in which I do not know the outcome or the preceding events. Only after this is over will things return to normal. Until then, we must take as few risks as possible."

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The whole group gawked at Danny's lair with mixed reactions. Most, though, were a bit disappointed under all of their awe at being allowed to see his room. They had expected something a little grander or maybe just more revealing. They hadn't expected a normal teenager's room.

"Like I said; sorry it's a little cramped," the ghost boy apologized.

Sam walked up to Danny and looked around again. "It looks like your old room."

"What can I say?" he responded. "I wanted something homey."

The goth girl smiled at this.

"So…where do we sleep?" Star asked dumbly.

Danny quirked an eyebrow at the question. Tetslaff took that moment to belt out the obvious answer for him, since his expression didn't seem to get through.

"Where did you think you were going to sleep at the real campout?"

"You mean; we have to sleep on the _floor_?" Paulina squealed in horror.

"Oh, quit your whining," the teacher ordered. "This should be no problem for you sissies. Now set up your sleeping bags and just be glad that you have a place to stay at all." There was some grumbling from the group as they followed orders.

"I think you've bitten off more than you can chew, dude," Tucker conveyed to his best guy friend.

"Really, what gave you that idea?" Danny snapped sarcastically.

The two teachers advanced the ghost boy.

"Were sorry for being so…imposing," Mr. Lancer apologized.

It was like someone had flipped a switch because Danny instantly changed from "snappy teenager" to "hero of Amity Park" again.

"It's not like I'd leave you all in the Ghost Zone," he replied. "I was getting lonely, anyway," he teased. He paused for a moment. "Oh, by the way, which one of you wants the bed?"

The teachers seemed astounded. "What?"

"Um…common courtesy; always give your bed to your elders," he recited politely. Even ghost hunting parents taught their kids proper manners.

"Oh, no, that's too much," Lancer responded. "We've already intruded here and…"

Danny quirked an eyebrow. "I've been strapped down to numerous metal examination tables before. A night on the floor won't kill me." Not waiting for them to say any more, he walked over to the unoccupied corner of the room where Tucker and Sam had already set up their sleeping bags. He sat down next to them.

"Playing hero again, are we?" Sam joked.

Danny smiled. "You know it. Besides, I wanted to be closer to you guys." He glanced around the room. It looked like everyone was just about ready for bed. Apparently, Ms. Tetslaff had given the bed up to Mr. Lancer. "Alright, everyone, lights out!" The group crawled into their sleeping bags at his command. With a little concentration, Danny managed to make the room darker. Everyone gasped as the plain ceiling transformed into a starry sky. Danny smiled and got comfy on the floor.

"Homey, huh?" Sam whispered.

"With just a little personal touch," the half-ghost added.

With that, they settled down and went to sleep.

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**For some reason, I am not happy with a lot of my work lately. At least this wasn't so rushed. Well, I don't think it was. I don't know. That's for you guys to decide.**


	6. Mistrust

**I just came to the realization yesterday that it's basically been a year since Phantom Planet came out. It still feels like it's only been a few months to me. **

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep putting this here? I don't own the show.**

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It was presumably the middle of the night. Paulina opened one eye and scanned the room. Seeing that the rest of the campers were asleep, she sat up. Her eyes rested on Phantom's peacefully sleeping form and lingered there for a few moments. He was even cuter when he was sleeping. The popular girl's movements were very slow and careful as she got up. She was about to do something she knew she shouldn't.

In the darkened room, she spied the dresser off to the corner. She was extremely cautious, making sure to daintily step around each lumpy figure on the ground. When she at last reached the dresser, she glanced over at the sleeping ghost boy once more, just to make sure.

She knew that this was a bad idea, but she couldn't help it! She _needed_ to learn more about Phantom. With him asleep, this was the perfect time to do it, too. The first drawer slid open silently. She closed it just as quickly, but couldn't help but smirk a little. Boxers guy.

The next compartment opened easily as well. Inside was a wallet among other things like a weird metallic thermos. She ignored everything else and shot straight for the wallet. Maybe there was a name or something inside. A picture, even. She had barely opened it when she was stopped dead by a cold, clear voice.

"What did I tell you about looking through my stuff?"

Paulina shivered and couldn't bring herself to turn around. A silver-gloved hand snatched the wallet and placed it back in the drawer before shutting it. The girl steeled herself and turned to face the very ticked-off Phantom. He was glaring, which was not a look she wanted to get from him.

"I…I…" she stuttered pathetically.

"Give it up," he interrupted. His hands were shaking dangerously from anger and she could make out the suppressed snarl. By now, she was totally petrified and couldn't help but think that he might hurt her. He squeezed his blaring green eyes shut tight. "Just go back to bed…_now_."

She complied, shivering dangerously the whole way. Danny gripped the edge of the drawer and put some of his weight on it, breathing heavily. Paulina witnessed this, but just lay down and closed her eyes tightly, unable to stop a few frightened tears. She had never seen her hero act so scary.

The girl was unable to go to sleep. She heard a soft noise as Phantom landed back in his sleeping area. A chill went up her spine. She opened one eye just a crack and immediately wished she hadn't. Danny's glare was intense and furious, still aimed at her. Even worse, she swore that she saw his eyes flash red for a moment.

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They were all jolted awake the next morning by someone banging on the door. Forgetting about his company for a moment, he turned over onto his stomach with his hands over his head and pleaded, "Five more minutes?"

"Just get up already, Phantom," the ghost on the other side barked.

The ghost boy did so with a soft groan. Everyone else was walking up as well. The first thing they did after rubbing the sleep out of their eyes was stare at Danny. The majority of them quickly noticed the dark bags under his eyes; as if he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep, which, in fact, he hadn't.

Danny ran his fingers through his hair to straighten out his bed-head before standing up and stretching his sore muscles. "Okay, gang, we're just going to wait for Dora to get here so we can get you all out of here."

"Paulina?" Star asked at the sight of her best friend. The popular girl was trembling and looked absolutely horrible. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Paulina trembled harder, causing Star to reach out and hold her arm.

"I…I did something I shouldn't have," she stammered, glancing at Phantom's back. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

The blonde had followed her gaze to the ghost boy. She watched carefully as he turned for a moment and gave her friend a stern look before looking away once more. Paulina cringed and shook herder.

"Don't worry, we'll get you a nice relaxing spa treatment when we get home," Star promised. However, she returned to gazing at the ghost boy. Maybe she didn't want to know what had happened.

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Dora arrived soon enough. The former travelling groups had been set up and Danny prepared to lead them to the outskirts of the Far Frozen. During the flight, the ghost boy kept his face hard. He was _not_ in a very good mood right now. He just wanted to get everyone back as quickly as possible so he could stop stressing so much.

Mr. Lancer noticed the ghost boy's sudden shift in mood, but had decided to keep his mouth shut. Sam, on the other hand…

"Danny?" she asked, not caring to use his ghostly last name. "Is something wrong?"

Danny didn't answer, just kept on flying.

"Danny?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Now let me concentrate." His tone was as stony as his face, which worried his friends, who had exchanged a quick glance.

Instead of pushing it like usual, she went quiet. Once they were alone again, she'd get him to tell her. For now, they'd focus on getting to their destination.

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The flight continued for a while, but they had finally gotten there. All of the humans and Dora waited outside. The boy jetted down into the cave and landed swiftly in front of the guard.

"Right this way," the armed beast said automatically.

Danny was led through the icy tundra to a cave he didn't remember. He was pretty sure that it was quite a distance from the village. Not a word was spoken about it, though.

"Greetings, Danny Phantom," Frostbite boomed, spreading his arms out wide as a gesture of welcoming.

Danny smiled weakly, not able to make it reach his eyes. "It's nice to see you again, too, Frostbite."

The beast lowered his arms and looked curious for a moment. "I have heard word from my guard that you wished to speak to me yesterday?"

Danny nodded, still tired and a bit cranky. "Yeah, I was wondering if I could borrow the Infi-map. I'll give it back right after, I just have to get everyone home, first."

"I am afraid it will not work," the large ghost informed.

"What?" Danny practically shouted.

"There is a current phenomenon in which all portals to the human world close. There is no telling how long it will last. During this time, the map does not work."

Danny groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Oh, no."

"I apologize." Frostbite looked like he meant what he said. "I shall inform you when this has ceased."

"Thanks," the ghost boy muttered. "I guess I'll go tell the group the bad news and then load them back into my room again." He shuddered at the thought.

"If you wish," Frostbite offered, "they may come with you as you were scheduled for ice training today."

The boy seemed to be weighing his options. No, he did not want an audience, but after last night, he didn't trust any of them in his room again. He sighed and looked up at his ghostly friend. "Thanks, Frostbite."

"You are very welcome," responded the leader of the Far Frozen.

Danny lifted into the air and took off toward the entrance once more. Frostbite looked warily, yet also pityingly, after him.

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"What?!" Dash shrieked. The other campers seemed to follow his lead.

"Look," Danny nearly shouted, "it's not my fault you all got stuck here right before all of the portals closed up. So I would appreciate it if you all calmed down and tried to make this go as smoothly as possible." The noise died down at his orders. He inhaled and exhaled deeply before deciding to continue. It was really taking a lot of effort to stay calm. "Now, I would love to just be able to let you all stay back in the room while I'm forced through training, but thanks to a little _incident_ last night," here he gave a harsh look in Paulina's direction, noticed by all of the group members, "I can't trust you enough to leave you alone in there."

There were murmurs throughout the teens again.

"You mean; we have to come, too?" Mikey asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Danny answered, his tone none-too-kind. This made the kids gulp and some of them were starting to realize just how irritable he was. Where was their hero? Needless to say, they stayed a good distance behind him as they were led down the ice tunnels.

"Danny," Sam whispered after catching up to her ghostly friend, "don't you think this is a bit suspicious? I mean, you get pulled in here for ghost camp right before all of the portals closed up? And did you actually _see_ that the Infi-map wasn't working? I'm willing to believe that _us_ getting sucked in was an accident, but…"

Danny cut her off. "Frostbite and Clockwork are my friends, Sam. They wouldn't do anything like that."

Sam scowled a bit. The rest of the journey continued in silence.

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**Hope this was a bit more enjoyable than the pevious chapters.**


	7. Freeze

**Artgirl4 _reminded_ me to put another chapter up. And by "reminded," I mean asked constantly. Just kiding! Sorry Artgirl4, you're fun to tease. Don't take offense.**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Danny Phantom. Yes, I am annoyed by these things.**

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The group sat in the safety of the cave as Frostbite drilled Danny. They had all been given thick coats to borrow, since it was freezing in there. At the moment, Danny was being tested on basic ice blasts and changing the shape of the ice. When he had created the simple ice crystal, he had smiled a little bit and looked kind of dreamy for a moment. Sam had smiled, too. She remembered Danny giving one of those to her right after the Undergrowth incident. When it shape-shifted again into an icy rose, her smile grew.

In the far back of the cave, there was a small group around Paulina including Star and Mr. Lancer, who was more off to the side, really. The girl had calmed down just enough so that she wasn't shaking uncontrollably.

"What did Phantom _do_ to you?" Star questioned.

Paulina shivered a bit at the thought. "He told me not to touch his stuff and then told me to go back to bed. He looked so angry, though. He was shaking and then when I looked again, his eyes…they turned red."

The group glanced over at the boy who had just accomplished making an icy statue of Frostbite. The larger ghost seemed to be pleased by this.

"Well done!" he congratulated. "Now let's move on to ice blasts, shall we?"

Danny nodded. He created a ball of ice and shot it into the distance.

"Good," the ice ghost rated. "Now make it into an icicle."

The boy concentrated and did so with ease. The spear shot extremely far. Danny had lost sight of it before it landed.

"Outstanding!" the ghost said gleefully, not having expected it to go that well. "Are you ready to create a very large-scale attack? We sometimes call it an 'ice storm' because of its effect." Danny nodded briefly. "Very well, I want you to focus a large portion of your ice energy and center it. Danny did so, having to close his eyes. His aura shifted to blue. "Now, channel most of it into your hands, but focus on all other parts of your body as well." The boy's hands, which were drawn close to his chest, glowed brighter. "Excellent. Now let it loose all at once in a forward motion." Danny did nothing. "Great One, why aren't you…?"

"I'm trying," Danny mumbled. He kept it up for a few moments longer. All of the campers had focused their attention on him once they sensed a disturbance. Danny began to shake a little. "F-Frostbite, I-I can't!" He sounded worried. As he should have been, considering he glowed even more brightly. He opened his eyes for only a moment to reveal that they had turned blue as well. Then, they slammed shut again.

"Stop building up the power and let it go!" the mentor shouted, beginning to panic.

"I can't!" the ghost boy screamed. "It keeps coming and I can't…can't let it go! Help!"

Frostbite ran forward and grabbed Danny's shoulders, but instantly recoiled. His paws had been encased in ice.

"Danny!" Sam screeched.

The boy's breathing became labored a minute before he let out a loud scream. All of the ice shot forward in once huge wave. It seemed to shake up the surrounding area. Uneven breaths came from Danny as he studied his hands. He quickly looked over at the shocked Frostbite before sprinting off. Without a moment's hesitation, Sam, Tucker, and Frostbite ran after him, leaving behind the startled classmates.

"Danny?" Sam called softly, entering an icy cavern not too far off. The whole inside of it was completely frozen over. She walked in farther upon seeing a black lump with a patch of snow-white hair. Danny had his head buried in his knees, which had been drawn close to his body. She realized that he was shaking. Pity clenched her heart. The girl treaded over to her friend and knelt down, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. She didn't want to startle him. "Danny?" she said softly.

"Sam?" he asked shakily.

"It's okay, I'm right here," she soothed. "What happened?"

Danny looked up, traumatized. "I-I don't know. I lost control. All of it just kept coming and…and…" He trailed off, unable to finish, and started shaking harder.

Sam wrapped him in a warm embrace. "You're cold," she whispered, her voice gentle.

As Sam comforted him, Tucker and Frostbite stood by the door dumbly, not sure what to do. At one point, they exchanged a glance before resting their eyes on the scene again. After about a minute, Sam let go.

"Thanks, Sam," Danny breathed, still a bit nervous.

A smile crossed the girl's face and she helped Danny to his feet. He froze for a moment and started gasping, leaning against a wall.

"Woah, easy there, big guy," Sam said, helping to hold her friend upright.

Frostbite took a step forward once Danny recovered a bit. "Shall I return to the humans and inform them that you will return shortly as well as call upon Mistress Dora?"

"Yeah. T-Thanks, Frostbite," he responded, still shivering a bit. Sam kept her hold on him, just in case.

Once the snow-beast left, Tucker trudged up to his best friends. "Dude, that was scary."

"Tell me about it," Danny agreed, shivering again. Sam put her arm behind his shoulders and made sure to keep close to him.

"C'mon, Tuck, help me get him back," Sam pleaded.

Tucker ran around to Danny's other side and the two of them worked to hold him upright.

"You guys are the best," Danny whispered, almost inaudible.

"Shh…" Sam cooed. "Save your strength." Even if he wouldn't admit it, Sam knew that he wasn't doing too well. The loss of so much energy had completely drained him to the point where he was having trouble standing on his own; not to mention how the recent panic attack had affected him.

When the trio reached the clearing again, the group members swarmed out of the cave and flocked toward them. They were appalled by Danny's state. He looked even worse now than when he had run off. Only a few realized that it must have been the adrenalin and pure terror that enabled him to push himself that far.

"_War of the Worlds_, what happened?!" Lancer shouted upon his discovery of Danny's condition.

The boy shivered and gave a shaky smile. "Lost c-control for a minute."

"Which just might be the understatement of the year," Sam muttered quietly. Danny responded to this with a weak laugh.

Dora swooped down in full dragon form. Frostbite walked over to greet her and spoke quietly about something. The dragon ghost nodded a few times and glanced at Danny occasionally. The snow-beast then trotted up to Danny.

"We think that it would be best if you stayed here for a short time at the medical facility while Dora delivers the humans back to your domain. Do you agree?" Frostbite asked.

"Don't worry, dude, we'll make sure they behave," Tucker prodded, in consent.

"I'm with them on this one," Sam concurred as well, going against her suspicions.

"Okay," Danny responded tiredly.

Sam and Tucker joined the group while Frostbite took his position by Danny, laying one of his huge paws on the half-ghost's shoulder.

"Friends of Danny Phantom," the large ghost addressed, getting the immediate attention of everyone, "you are being instructed to return to your temporary residence with Mistress Dora. Phantom will rejoin you after a brief time."

A few kids waved as they hopped on the dragon and prepared to leave. Then, with the flap of wings and the swoosh of stirred snow, they vanished. Danny watched their retreating forms carefully.

"Let us leave, Oh Great One," the larger ghost suggested, directing Danny gently toward the village. The boy obediently followed.

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**Did I not tell you I was going to slip back into my overdramatic routine? But, I will have you know that, no matter how random and overdamatic I may get, I actually have a reason for it this time! Yes, I was shocked, too.**


	8. Nightmares

**Okay, tis is the chapter where my overdramatic tendancies _really_ show through. So, be warned.**

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The group was very quiet after they had arrived back at Danny's room. They just sat down and looked to be deep in thought. Only a few conversed with one another, but did so very quietly. This made Sam and Tucker's job very easy.

Finally, an Asian girl spoke up. "You know, guys, I think that we should be really nice to Phantom when he gets back. He was all unhappy this morning, even more _now_, and I don't think that's right, considering he's letting us stay here in the first place. We should make this as easy and fun as possible."

A few others nodded and voiced their agreement.

"So it's agreed? No complaining and no doing anything that will get him mad?"

The teens nodded, making Sam and Tucker smile a bit. At least they were being considerate.

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Frostbite walked into the meeting room.

"I am guessing you have sad news as well?" Clockwork assumed.

The large ghost lowered his gaze. "Unfortunately, yes, I do. There was an…incident during training."

"Oh?"

"The boy lost control of his powers. He reported something about them building up and not being able to let them out before they got the better of him."

The time ghost paused. "Was there any damage?"

"Thankfully, no," answered Frostbite.

"Very, well." Clockwork turned around. "I think we need to keep a closer eye on Danny from now on. Things seem to be getting worse."

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A few hours had passed before Danny finally stumbled in the door. He looked completely exhausted.

"Danny, you're back!" Sam stated happily.

He gave a slight nod and as much of a smile as he could muster. He scanned the room carefully. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nope, not a thing!" Tucker assured.

The ghost boy raised an eyebrow at this. "Really?"

His two friends nodded.

The Asian girl from before cleared her throat loudly and stepped forward, effectively grabbing Danny's attention. "Um…Phantom…we…um…wanted to apologize. We weren't exactly being the best group ever even though you were being so nice and all, so…sorry." The crowd behind her mumbled their agreement.

Danny gave them a small smile. "Thanks. That really means a lot to me."

There was a brief awkward silence before Tetslaff ordered everyone to get ready for bed. One girl said she was tired of sleeping in her clothes and was going to wear PJs whether anyone else joined her or not. Then another person agreed, then another, finally opening up the floodgate. Danny laughed quietly at this, but stayed in his spot, waiting for Tetslaff to call "lights out."

Sam sat next to him in her gothic black nightgown. "Not gonna join the party?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah." He had brought the black sweats that Sam gave him for his fourteenth birthday, since the purple ones would have been humiliating and bound to earn an insult from Dash, but he wasn't gonna wear 'em. One, he didn't want there to be a chance of Dash or Kwan recognizing them, although they were pretty general, and two, even though his jumpsuit wasn't fun to sleep in at night and he had changed into the sweats on the first night, he wouldn't feel comfortable wearing them in front of everyone else as Danny Phantom.

"Aw, come on," Sam pleaded, "relax a little. It's not like anyone's going to say anything."

"But they'll think it," he retorted humorously, still smiling in that dizzy way.

"Since when are you telepathic?"

Danny laughed a bit. "You're going to bug me about this all night, aren't you?"

She smirked. "Pretty much."

Tucker laughed from the next sleeping bag over. "Better give up now, dude."

Although no one was showing it, most of them were keeping their ears tuned to the conversation. So, they silently cheered when they heard the ghost boy cave. Danny sighed and got up, gathering the sweats from his drawer and then heading to the bathroom. He emerged a minute later, clad in black sweatpants, T-shirt, and white socks.

"Happy?" he asked Sam teasingly.

"Very much so," she giggled as he sat down next to her. Normally, the giggling would have been misplaced, but all of the craziness of the recent events mixed with how tired they were made them sound like a bunch of drunken idiots.

"Alright, campers, _now_ it's time to go to sleep," the female councilor commanded.

The teens laid down as the lights flickered off and the stars on the ceiling showed brightly. One by one, they all fell asleep, gentle breathing filling the room.

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Sam woke up later that night to see a glowing green light. She rolled away from it.

"Danny, knock it off," she muttered.

No response.

"_Danny_," she groaned, rolling back over and opening an eye. She gasped, her eyes flying wide open now. His hand was on the ground, glowing, but he was still asleep. She sat straight up and shook his arm a little to wake him or at least stop him.

"Sam, what's going on?" Tucker yawned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He placed his glasses on.

"It's Danny," she whispered urgently. "His powers are acting up."

Tucker leaned over a bit to get a better view. Danny's expression was strained a bit, giving slight indication of either a nightmare or pain. Sam pried his glowing hand off of the floor, only to find a burn mark in the shape of his hand. The two unwittingly gasped.

A few more students stirred, slowly getting up to see the commotion. They looked on curiously, but didn't make a move. Sam ignored them and placed a hand gently on the half-ghost's forehead. She jerked it away after a second.

"Tucker, he's hot," she hissed. Then, louder, she said while still shaking her ghostly friend, "Danny. Danny, you have to get up."

Now, most of the roomful of people was awake; excluding the teachers. Only the deepest of sleepers were left.

"What's happening?" some of them slurred, making it sound more like, "Whas happnin?"

"Danny, wake-up," Sam cried a little louder and more frantically. He moaned and rolled to the side, facing away from her. She stopped for a moment and looked to their audience. "Can someone go get a cold, wet cloth?"

No one argued or questioned her orders. The Asian girl from before got up and ran into the bathroom. The sound of running water could be heard.

Sam rolled Danny back to facing the ceiling. His hand was glowing brighter now and his face was askew. She saw his muscles twitch every now and then. Even his breathing had become more labored. She felt his forehead again. Still hot. There was a bit of perspiration there now too.

The girl came back with the cloth, handing it to Sam. She smiled a bit. "Thanks, Nicole."

"Nicole" smiled and nodded back.

Sam placed the wet cloth on his forehead. He winced a bit in his sleep and mumbled something, causing Sam to give him an expression of pity. The cloth soon got warm and Sam had to order Nicole to run it under cold water again. Sam pushed back his white bangs, now wet from the swab.

"Danny, can you hear me?" she asked softly. His muscles twitched again, but that was all the response she got. Nicole returned and Sam put the cloth on his head again.

"What's wrong with him, anyway?" Nicole asked Tucker.

The boy shrugged. "Don't know. We think his powers might be acting up again."

"He's cooling down," she reported happily, but then looked worried. "Wait, that's too cold." She started shivering and could see her breath as well as Danny's. Looking down, she realized his hand was now glowing blue. Ice.

The cloth on his head began to freeze. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and tossed it off to the side. Kids began to wrap their sleeping bags around themselves to keep warm as the temperature plummeted. Sam kept trying, though.

"Danny, you really have to wake up, now!" she nearly shouted, shaking him as hard as possible.

Danny's muscles jerked oddly. His breathing picked up and began following an odd pattern. His face paled a few shades as well as twitched uneasily. "Leave them…no…won't do it." This was so quiet that only Sam had heard it. Her attempts became even more frantic and the noise level in the room spiked.

The goth girl's hands were freezing from touching Danny for so long, but she didn't care. Danny's muscles gave another jolt as his face twisted. A low groan escaped his mouth. His whole body was stiff and cold. At least his hand stopped glowing, though.

Finally, after much too long, he began to warm back up, as did the rest of the room. His body jolted into a sitting position and he started gasping on the air before falling backward and into a coughing fit.

"Shh…" she told him, moving her fingers gently along his arm. He groaned in pain as she helped him shift his stiff body until he was sitting up against the wall. Sam wrapped her sleeping bag around the still-frozen boy. He had his eyes closed tight. Before Danny could even ask, Sam explained, "Your powers acted up again while you were asleep."

He shivered. "Again? Thought that got fixed."

"Apparently not," the girl replied. She turned to the group. "You guys should probably get some sleep now. The crisis is over."

Although all of them laid down, none of them slept just yet. They kept their ears open. Naughty little eavesdroppers.

"Feeling any better?" Sam asked her ghostly friend.

"A little," the boy replied. "Thanks."

"That's what friends are for. Now hold that blanket tighter. You need to get warm." Sam smiled at the end of this.

"You know," Tucker piped up, after being unusually silent, "I don't know what's sadder; the way Danny looks or the fact that Lancer and Tetslaff slept through this whole thing."

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**Okay, I _attempted_ to lighten the mood with that last line. Did it work? And I _told_ you I was going to be overdramatic. And Artgirl4? I promise to kill the changing fling unless absolutely necessary from now on. 'Kay?**

**Alright, last but not least, I'm going on vacation for a few weeks, so I won't be around to post and stuff. Sorry. I'll try to write as fast and well as possible when I come back.**


	9. Morning

**Hehe...um...I finished the chapter. A little late, I apologize.**

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In the morning, everyone had silently agreed to not speak a word about last night, getting ready for the day without making hardly any noise. Danny still looked worse for wear and had barely gotten an ounce of sleep. So, naturally, when the "messenger ghost" (as I shall now refer to him as) came by the next morning to deliver the schedule, Danny failed to answer the door, still in a deep sleep.

Instead, Sam got up and made her way to the door, opening it cautiously. The ghost outside was one of the many robed ghosts that Danny had seen earlier.

"Where is the Phantom?" he demanded.

"Asleep," Sam hissed, not liking his tone.

"Then wake him. His next lesson begins shortly." The messenger ghost thrusted a piece of paper at Sam, which she grudgingly accepted.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," the girl snarled.

The ghost was getting irritated with her. "And why, may I ask, not?"

"Because he's been through way too much and is on the verge of a major blowout, so just leave and let him take a break for once!" Heavy breaths came from Sam after this outburst.

The ghost snarled. "Fine, but I will return again with the others soon."

Sam slammed the door on him after he turned to take off. She was still steaming. The rest of the group gazed upon her curiously.

"Ms. Manson, what was that all about?" Lancer interrogated, not looking happy about her yelling.

Sam growled out her reply. "He wanted me to wake up Danny and tell him to get to his lesson."

"Then why did you refuse?" the teacher asked, still not catching on.

This seemed to push her over the edge. "Look at him!" she practically screamed in frustration, pointing to the ghost boy who seemed completely used up. "Does he _look_ like he could handle another lesson?!"

Even though her demand was only aimed at Mr. Lancer, everyone else turned and observed as well. It was true. It seemed like Phantom wouldn't be able to handle anything else at that moment. It was almost sad, seeing him so broken down from the stress as well as the power malfunctions.

"Sam's right," Nicole agreed. "And we owe it to him to help out as much as we can."

There were a few mumbled agreements. Nicole walked over by Sam.

"Thanks again, Nicole," Sam repeated, beginning to find this girl very helpful.

The girl nodded. They were about to continue when Danny began to stir. Slowly, the boy sat up, stretching and looking around.

"Why is everyone already up?" he wondered.

"Well, the message ghost already came by, but…" Sam started before Danny seemed to jolt awake.

"What?!" He leaped up. "Oh, crud, I'm going to be late!"

"Danny!" Sam yelled, but he was already in the bathroom getting changed. All of ten seconds later, he barged back out in a panic. He was at the door by the time Sam grabbed onto his sleeve to stop him.

"Sam, I have to go!" he stated impatiently.

"No, you don't," she denied.

"What are you talking about? I…"

"Uh, hello, there's no way you're going after last night," she argued.

"Yes, there is," he snapped.

"No, there's not," she said in an equally forceful tone. "You're way too tired and worn out. You need a break."

"I'm fine," he argued. At that point, there was another knock on the door. Danny flung it open and was met by several of the robed ghosts. He turned to them looking apologetic. "Sorry I'm late." He turned back to Sam. "I'll be back later, okay? Trust me, nothing is going to happen. It was just some fluke; a one-time thing." With that, he hurried out the door.

Sam had the paper in her hands caught in a death grip. Tucker cautiously laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. I mean; I don't trust them a lot right now, but they're Danny's allies. If he was in any_ real_ danger, they would do something about it." Despite his words, Tucker didn't sound so sure of himself as he said this.

Sam, still holding angrily onto the note, finally looked down at it. _Defense and Offence Skills: Master Shen._

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Danny was led to one of the many floating doors. Most of the robed ghosts had left, but one had stayed behind to guide him. The ghost ushered him inside before closing the door behind the boy. Danny gazed at his surroundings. The floors looked like wood with the exception of a few gym mats and the walls were white. In the middle, sitting cross-legged, was a green-faced ghost with white hair in a long ponytail. His eyes were closed.

"You're late," the ghost said in monotone.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry. I got kind of…tied up." In the silence that followed his explanation, the half-ghost shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

"You are not moving," the ghost stated.

"Am I supposed to?" Danny questioned.

"That is for you to decide."

Danny hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward. Nothing happened, so he continued on until he was a few feet from the ghost. One second later, he was stunned to find his legs flying out from under him. He landed heavily on the floor, looking up into the face of the now-standing ghost.

"You were not prepared," the ghost stated. He offered his hand but after a moment of staring at it cautiously, Danny decided it would be safer to stand up on his own. The ghost smirked. "At least you are a fast learner."

"Really? I usually get the opposite," Danny muttered to himself. The ghost seemed to have heard it, though he made no retort.

"I am Master Shen," he introduced.

"Um…I'm Danny," the boy replied uneasily. He was about to stick out his hand for a handshake, but thought better of it. "Nice to meet you."

"And you as well," Master Shen responded politely. "Now enough formalities. We have work to do."

Danny followed him onto one of the training mats. The two faced each other about five feet apart. Master Shen took on a battle stance.

"First, we shall work on defense. Block me." The ghost charged at Danny, who instinctively put up a shield. Master Shen's hand sliced through it and he was able to knock Danny down within three seconds. He looked downward at Danny, who was currently on the floor. "There is no use relying on your ghost powers to protect you here."

The teen stood back up, keeping an eye on his teacher. Once he was ready, the ghost made his next move. Danny put him arm up to block the first hit, but Master Shen's other hand came in and made contact. Danny was easily disabled and thrown to the floor after that.

A heavy sigh left the boy's lips. "This is going to be a long day."

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**Yeah, I think this is a little shorter than usual. Again, I'm sorry. And I'll try my best to update on time next time. (sigh) I really hope I can wrap this up soon. I'm gonna get very busy come next week. If I can't finish quick, everything's going to be all prolonged and I won't be able to get stuff up as fast. Meh.**


	10. Stop

**I think I'm going to fall asleep on my keyboard.**

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"Um…Sam?" Nicole asked hesitantly.

The goth girl was pacing around the room anxiously. The expression on her face was a warning to everyone not to irritate her right now. At the other girl's question, she turned to look at the Asian. "What?"

Nicole shifted nervously. "Not to get all personal, but why are you freaking out so much about Phantom? Last night, too. Are you guys really good friends or something?"

Sam looked over the girl's shoulder. Several people were eavesdropping. "You guys would do the same thing," she lied. No one could know how close Danny and her really were.

Nicole didn't seem to believe her, but shut up. Tucker walked over to his friend.

"Sam, I really think you're starting to make everyone suspicious. Maybe we should just lay low for a bit." He placed a hand on her shoulder as he said this.

"Don't you think I know that?" she hissed, whipping around. "But I can't just watch Danny suffer without doing anything about it."

"I never said that you had to," Tucker argued. "Just maybe cut back on the babysitter act a little."

The girl didn't respond. Instead, she turned her head to stare at some non-existent object in the distance.

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Sweat poured down Danny's face as he leaned against a wall. Master Shen smirked.

"Tired already, are you?" he teased.

The boy heaved himself off of the wall and resumed a battle stance, refusing to back down. The ghost's smile grew wider.

"That's more like it." He copied Danny, looking ready for an assault. "Take your best shot."

A green fire sparked somewhere in the half-ghost's eyes as he set his face in determination. He lunged forward in a swift motion. His hand swung out to hit the man in the side, but he was easily caught only for Master Shen's own skilled strike to come at him. Danny winced as it hit, but threw back his own maneuver, successfully making contact. During another attempted strike, Master Shen caught the boy in his moment of unbalance and lashed out. The hit sent Danny stumbling down, but he caught himself and kicked at the man's legs. His opponent jumped, but the teen took the moment to knock him out of the air. Shen landed slowly and was unable to deflect Danny's attacks. Actually, to Danny, it seemed as if the teacher was barely moving at all. When he finally did move, his fist came out much too slow and it was effortlessly caught, which Danny used to bring the man to the ground. Time seemed to resume its normal pace and the teacher blinked in astonishment for a few seconds.

Finally, Master Shen said, "Very well, Phantom, very well." He heaved himself off of the ground. "I believe that it is time for you to go home, now."

Danny smiled. "Thanks!" he shouted as he dashed to the door.

Once the youth had left, the older ghost's approving smile dipped into a confused frown.

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While Danny was flying back, he suddenly felt himself jolt forward for a split second. Next thing he knew, he was right in front of his door. He glanced behind him. "Huh. Weird." He shook his head and opened the door. Everyone was staring at him. "What?" They all looked away.

Except for Sam. She gave him a hard glare. The boy sighed and walked up to her.

"Don't tell me you're _still_ mad," he said irritably. She shifted her glare to the floor, not meeting his eyes. Danny sighed. "Okay, fine, whatever." He gave up, walking to the other side of the room and leaning against the wall. He placed a white-gloved hand over his eyes and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger.

Meanwhile, Lancer and Tetslaff were discussing certain issues with each other.

"Does the Phantom boy seem a bit…off to you?" Lancer questioned.

"Mmm," Tetslaff rumbled in response. "Next time he leaves, we should warn the students to start being more careful."

"That seems like a good idea. We already saw what happened to Ms. Sanchez," Lancer agreed, casting a glance at the unusually quiet Paulina. Then, the two glanced at the ghost they were discussing. They were stunned to find him shaking violently for a moment, only to look up with red eyes and fangs. He quickly looked back down, trying to control himself. The teachers were horrified and turned back to one another. "_Invisible Man_! Let's just hope we can get out of here soon."

Everyone was startled when Danny suddenly bolted to the door and flung himself out, slamming it shut behind him. All was silent in the room. Every single pair of human eyes were glued to the door.

Outside, Danny had hurled himself onto a lone island and sank to the ground, leaning against a large rock. His body was still trembling and he grimaced, the fangs showing. His arms held themselves firmly to his torso, as if he were trying to keep himself together. Finally, he was able to display his shaking hands out in front of him. They had morphed into claws.

"What's happening to me?" he whispered.

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Master Shen walked into the same room that all the teachers before him had walked into. He also wore the same grim face as all the teachers before him. Clockwork, Frostbite, and Pandora all looked troubled by this.

"I sense you have more bad news," Clockwork spoke up.

Shen looked into the time-ghost's eyes. "Time slowed to a stop for a moment."

"Clockwork," Frostbite started, "I believe things are getting out of hand. Surely we may explain now."

"It is not yet time," the cloaked ghost argued.

Pandora gave him an even stare. "How would you know? You cannot even see the future possibilities now."

"That doesn't mean I still do not have experience and knowledge," he retorted.

The large woman glared. "This is ridiculous! Are you going to simply wait until one of the more powerful and dangerous abilities seeps out before you act! You have too much patience, Clockwork."

"I agree with Pandora," Frostbite declared. "This is too risky. At first, I believed it would be better if he did not know, hoping this would pass by as calmly as possible. But the energy isn't slowly releasing itself; it's building and fusing into him!"

Clockwork became annoyed. "If we try to remove or settle the power too soon, we may hurt Danny in the process. I am not sure about you two, but I do not think that would be a wise move. We may have told him that story about training him because he was our best defense to get him here, but that doesn't mean it wasn't true."

The room went silent.

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**Attempted dramaticalness...yeah.**

**The downward spiral has started, but not to worry; I promise there will be a big crash at the end.**


	11. Out of Control

**This is where the intensity really picks up.**

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Danny still hadn't come back by the time everyone was supposed to go to sleep. So, Tetslaff and Lancer postponed it for a little while. The whole room was edgy, filled with whispering and pacing students. Each one was either worried or afraid. Sam kept stealing glances toward the door, hoping Danny would magically walk in. But of course, he didn't.

Tucker placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Sam…I'm sure Danny will be back tomorrow. Maybe his powers acted up again and he didn't want to hurt anyone."

An unexpected knock sounded on the door. Since Lancer was closest, he hesitantly opened it. The messenger stood there, his eyes betraying his annoyance.

"Phantom sends his apologies for leaving so suddenly. There was an urgent matter he had to settle with some of the higher-ups," he reported. "He should be back in a matter of hours." The ghost took off hurriedly after that.

Sam and Tucker exchanged a nervous glance.

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Danny braced himself as he glided into the meeting room. The alterations to his appearance had vanished, but in their wake was a horrible tenseness. Nevertheless, he knew that he needed to speak to the ghosts. Clockwork, at least, would know what was going on. However, Danny wasn't so sure the ancient ghost would tell him. Sam's suspicions about his allies keeping secrets from him were beginning to sound more and more likely.

"Sir Phantom," Dora greeted, her tone tighter and higher-pitched than usual. Danny just nodded. He headed toward the large double doors at the end of the hall. Dora floated a few paces behind him, almost like an escort.

Upon entering the room, he was greeted by the sight of his closest present allies; Clockwork, Frostbite, and Pandora. All kept careful eyes on him.

"I guess you probably already know why I'm here," the boy said, wasting no time on greetings. He directed this sentence more toward Clockwork.

The time ghost nodded, knowing _that_ at least. "The question is; what do you want us to do about it?"

Danny's hard expression faltered for a moment. "Look, I _know_ that something is up. I don't know what, but whatever is happening to me isn't normal and that's coming from someone who's half-ghost. What I want is answers."

"Answers, I am afraid, I cannot give," Clockwork retorted coolly.

Danny sensed a low growl in his throat and could actually _feel_ his eyes flash red. He squeezed them shut and clenched his hands into fists. After a few minutes, he was back to semi-normal.

"I don't have time for this." Danny's voice was low, strained. "I don't want to accidentally hurt the humans staying with me."

Frostbite sighed, glancing toward Clockwork before retuning his attention to Danny. "There is nothing we can do at the moment." It sounded like he was talking to a stubborn young child. "If there was, surely we would do it, but there isn't. You must control…"

Frostbite didn't get to finish his sentence before Danny cut him off with an outburst that made fireworks look like pathetic little sparks. "It's not like my other powers! I _can't_ control it!" His eyes went red again and the fangs returned. "Sure, I can hold it back it for a few minutes, but the smallest thing sets it off again!" Claws jutted out from his fingertips. "It's an unstoppable force and I can't make it go away!" His aura flared green and he started shaking.

Dora hesitantly approached him and let her hands grip his shoulders lightly. "Danny," she began, compelled to use his first name, "please calm down."

A feral snarl ripped itself from Danny's throat. He lashed out his arms to shake off Dora, his claws barely missing her. In a moment, Frostbite was behind Danny, holding the struggling teen in place. The half-ghost's struggles did little against the snow beast, but lessened his furious energy. He breathed in heaves, fading back to his normal appearance. Frostbite let him go and retreated backward a few steps. Danny toppled to the ground, keeping himself up on only his hands and knees. His head was tilted toward the floor, unable to raise it at the moment.

"Please," he begged, shaking. "If you can't help me stop it, at least restrain me so that I don't hurt anyone."

The smaller Pandora approached him and kneeled down. She placed a blue-tinted hand on his back. "Rest, Phantom. Later, we will discuss arrangements, but not until you can think clearly." Danny's body trembled a little harder before collapsing to the floor. Pandora picked up his limp form and looked toward the other three ghosts in the room. "Should I return him to the humans or do you have other plans?"

"We do not have much of a choice," Clockwork observed. "He'll have to continue on like this for just a little longer."

"He'll return tomorrow," Frostbite stated.

"And we will find a way to deter him," came the response. "But until then, he cannot be kept around here."

Pandora nodded reluctantly. "The humans won't like this, especially that girlfriend of his. She's already suspicious and bringing him back damaged won't improve that."

"I know," Clockwork said gravely.

Those two words had a sense of finality to them. Pandora floated down the hallway swiftly after that, the unconscious Danny still in her arms looking worse for wear. No, the humans would not like this at all.

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Even now, hours after the message of Danny's safety and reason for leaving, no one slept. Sure, most were now sitting on their sleeping bags, but the lights were still on and everyone was wide awake. Sam and Tucker sat close together, the former tapping her fingers restlessly. Her violet eyes hardly ever left the door. Tucker looked tired, covering his yawning mouth. It was late. Where was Danny?

Over in another corner, Star, Paulina, Dash, and Kwan were having a conversation.

"Paulina?" Star questioned. "Remember a few nights ago when you said Phantom started acting all weird?"

The Latina shivered at the memory, but nodded. "I didn't even think Phantom could _do_ scary," she whispered. "He was like a totally different person."

Star bit her glossy lip. "What if…what if this isn't really Phantom? It could be an impersonator. I mean, like Paulina said, he's been a totally different person lately."

"But that would mean we're all in the lair of some strange ghost who would hurt us!" Kwan input.

"Exactly," Star agreed.

"Then we have to get out," Dash stated. "I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna get wasted by some freaky _ghost_."

Star and Kwan were with him on that, but Paulina was oddly silent. After a pause, she took a deep breath.

"But what if…what if it really is Phantom?"

The other three looked at her incredulously. Star was the one who answered.

"Then we need to get back home and warn everyone because I don't think he's going to be the hero for much longer."

Lancer and Tetslaff were having a similar discussion.

"Now that the students are alerted, I think we should figure out what to do next," Lancer planned.

"I say we come up with an escape plan in case the ghost really does lose it," the burly woman suggested. "'Cause right now, it's sure looking like it."

Lancer sighed. "Yes, it does. We'll have to work fast. There's no telling when he'll go off. We also need to make sure all of the students will go through with it. I know Miss Manson seems to be clinging rather tightly."

Tetslaff scoffed. "No guarantee on that one. She's a free-spirit."

A harsh scold came from the male educator. He was about to reply to that, but the door opening cut him off. All heads turned, expecting to see Phantom. What they go was a tall Greek warrior woman with a limp figure in her arms. With a start, the campers realized the figure _was_ Phantom.

Danny was still unconscious, his head lolling back. One of his arms was draped over his chest while the other was squished between him and Pandora. His mouth hung open, loud breathing coming from it. As the ghost moved forward, more details could be seen. He was coated in a sheen of sweat and his closed eyes were a little tight. He looked almost as bad as last night.

"What happened to him?!" Sam shouted, suddenly angry. "What did you do?!"

Pandora narrowed her eyes at the accusation. "We did nothing to him, girl."

"But he…"

"…can explain for himself when he wakes, if he feels like telling you," the ghost finished, trying her best to remain calm. She moved past Sam and laid the comatose boy in the spot that he usually slept. She stood back up. "And when he is conscious again, I warn you to not anger him."

The majority of the occupants were too busy staring at Danny to really notice her exit. In a moment, everyone was crowded around the boy.

"W-What's happening?" Nicole stuttered, voicing the opinions of most of the room.

But no one had an answer.

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**(sigh) Updates are so slow. I'm sorry. But I am determined to finish this!**


	12. No More Time

**Good news: I'm not dead, despite what several of you may have been thinking by now. Bad news: I'm sorry it too so dark long to update. I apologize, for I feel that I have been neglectful. Well, I'll just let you get on to the story now.**

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"This is _bad_, Clockwork!" Pandora shouted angrily. "We _have_ no more time left!"

"Just a little longer," the time ghost argued. "It's almost too much for him. We cannot remove the items' power until it _is_."

Pandora looked angry and Frostbite was resigned.

"This is too much. This plan of yours, there is no guarantee to it. You've told us what _could_ happen, simply because of the flickering possibilities, but there is no way to be certain what will be best."

Clockwork was grave. "True, that immense amount of uncontrolled power makes it so that the future changes too quickly for me to see, not to mention the residue of the medallion's power, but this is the best we have for now. When he can't control it anymore, which we've seen must be soon, then it will almost separate from him for a moment. That is when we will be able to remove that power and lock it away." At this, he held up an amulet much like Dora's, except that it was silver and the stone was a grayish color. "The chances that we will hurt him are very low. However, like I said, there are other futures."

"Yes, we know," Pandora cut in. "You have told us all of the grim details. We cannot let him die, though, and the complete removal of his ghost powers would certainly bring chaos unto us all."

"You forgot about several hundred," the oldest ghost stated. "You also did not mention the other main possibility."

Frostbite looked like he knew what the last possibility was and wasn't too happy with it. "The power could be absorbed into him, settled, and he would be cursed with it for as long as he lives."

"You did not add that his conscience could be skewed and the chances that he turns evil and power-hungry are stronger."

Pandora growled. "Your actions make little sense, you old fool. If we told Phantom what was happening, he might be a little more cooperative."

"I agree," Frostbite added. "We cannot keep it a secret from him much longer. Before the humans, it seemed like the best idea because his ignorance would endanger no one and we did not need to have him worry about just how wrong things were. But now, there are lives at stake. The lives of his friends. I know for a fact that if he had hurt them in one of those outbursts, it would distort his mind. If he killed them…you told us what had happened the last time he was forced with that much loss. Death he had caused and will blame himself for. The situation seems quite similar, does it not?"

"They are different in many ways you will not understand, but I can see now that you two will tell him of his situation no matter what. That is certain. We will bring Danny here as soon as he is awake."

The other two ghosts nodded and walked away. Clockwork turned, looking grim. "Hopefully, they can avoid sending him over the edge. Another emotional outburst would be…catastrophic."

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If there had been hope of sleep before, it had gone now, buried beneath worry and fear. The class hovered either near the young ghost or as far away as possible. Sam and Tucker, predictably, were the closest. Worry that rarely showed broke through Sam's mask. Her friend wasn't looking too healthy. Every now and then, his hand would clench and unclench even though he was unconscious. That couldn't be good. Desperately, she wanted to hold onto his hand as it twitched, like she had when he was wiped out right after the Pariah Dark incident. She couldn't, though. The class was still watching and it would be a dead giveaway.

"Okay, Manson, explain what the heck is happening," Star demanded.

Sam shocked down on her nervousness. "What do you mean? Why would I know?"

"'Cause it's obvious you and Phantom know each other. If anyone would know anything, it'd be you," Dash added, using his tough-guy voice. It was a tone he used when he wanted something and wouldn't take no for an answer. He enforced it with a stern look that didn't intimidate Sam in the least.

"You think I know him just because I'm trying to help?" she demanded.

"That and you call him Danny even though no one else does," Star cut in again.

"She's got a point, you know," Tucker whispered, earning an elbow jab from his female friend.

"So? It's his name!" she defended.

"Now students, please respect Miss Manson's privacy," Lancer ordered. "It's none of your business who she knows or doesn't know."

That might have been the only moment in her life that Sam had ever been thankful to a teacher. It didn't last long, though.

"However, _I_ would like to speak to you, Miss Manson," Lancer added. Sam scowled and marched over with a backward glance at her tortured friend. The educator led her over to an unoccupied corner. Tetslaff was there, too.

"If you expect me to say something, you're wrong," Sam snapped.

"Sam, we need to know what is happening so that we can keep all of the other students safe. If there's a chance that Phantom will suddenly leap up and kill someone…"

That did it. Sam was officially furious. "Danny would never do that! I don't know what's happening, but I know that he's probably trying as hard as he can to handle it and keep us safe. So don't you _dare_ say a word about him." She glared and stormed off. The campers kept their eyes off of her, in favor of keeping themselves safe from her vengeance. Sam kneeled down next to Tucker and right beside Danny.

This was going to be a very long night.

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5 AM, according to Mr. Lancer's watch, was when Danny had finally started to move. Sam, Tucker, and even a few of the other students were glad to finally see signs of life from him other than the small flickers. At first, it was small; just his hands stretching out, followed by soft arm movements. Small muscles in his face jerked the slightest amount as sensations began to come back to him. His face was still a tiny bit flushed, but it was hard to tell. His systems were taking a little too long to start up, which had his friends instantly concerned. Even after being worn and beaten to the extent that he passed out, Danny was usually able to get up fairly quickly. It must have been pretty bad for recovery to take this long.

His arms tensed again, this time with effort. He pushed from the ground a little. His eyes still hadn't opened yet. At this point, Sam honestly didn't care about what the other kids thought. They assumed she knew Phantom anyway, so she wasn't going to avoid helping him up.

In a moment, Danny was leaned up against the wall, his head tilted back. His chest rose and fell dramatically, as if it had taken a lot of effort for that one simple movement. Danny still hadn't opened his eyes yet. Several kids bit their lips nervously. Not good.

"I'll go get some water," the ever-helpful Nicole volunteered, zipping away.

"Danny, can you hear me?" Sam asked, doing the best she could to sound concerned and yet not at the same time.

His brow furrowed. "Sam?"

"Right here," she informed.

He shook his head. "No. Should be at the meeting room."

"Pandora brought you back."

He gritted his teeth, fangs appearing while he did so. A low growl escaped. "Stupid ghosts."

"Danny?" Sam almost whispered, squeezing his arm. She felt him go stiff.

"What are you doing?!" Star hissed. "The ghost warrior person said _not_ to make him angry!"

Sam glared at her. "I'm not _trying_ to. I'm _trying_ to keep him calm. Or do you want to take a shot at it?" Star huffily backed down at this. As much as she hated to admit it, Manson had a point. She glanced toward Paulina, who would have normally jumped at the chance of playing nurse for her crush. The not-so-preppy girl looked resigned and more than a little scared. Of what, Star could only begin to guess.

A second later, she knew.

Danny opened his eyes. They were blood-red.

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**And so begins the climax. Again, I apologize for not updating. But on the upside, the book I'm writing is going along well. I finally hit the 100-page mark! (does happy dance). Hopefully, I can get the next chapter up more quickly.**


	13. Coming Undone

**Finally got around to finish this. **

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Sam gasped and pulled away for a second, releasing Danny. Said boy slammed his eyes shut again. Using unimaginable will and determination, he steadied himself against the wall so that he could stand. He was kneeling when he spoke again.

"Stay out of the way for now." It was barely a whisper. Obligingly, everyone backed off into corners, as far away as possible.

"Danny…what…" Sam asked, terrified now of this new Danny. It masked the one she knew, making it impossible to find him. Despite her normal bravery, she didn't even dare touch him now. Not with those claws that looked only too eager to rip into human flesh.

"I'm leaving," he muttered, standing up all the way. The others tried squishing themselves farther away, if that was possible. "This isn't good." His fist clenched and, for a moment, the air around them trembled, an invisible force ripping through it.

It's amazing how adrenalin can boost your courage beyond what it's worth. At that moment, Sam forced herself to get up and reach for her long-time friend. She was inches away from his arm when he recoiled. "Danny…"

"Don't." Short and hard. He began to stumble across the room, messy white hair falling into his face as he tilted it toward the floor. A few pieces stuck up in odd directions, as if charged by something, and there seemed to be an electrical current vibrating out from him, pushing everyone backward. A few objects started to shake and lift upward. The light that was in the room vanished, but Phantom's aura was powerful enough that they didn't need one.

All of a sudden, Danny stopped. He was so perfectly still that if it weren't for the fact that he was standing, he might appear dead. That's when his breathing quickened all of a sudden and his fists clenched tighter until ectoplasm slipped between his fingers. The room absolutely pulsated now with the energy he was releasing. It felt as though everyone's hearts were all beating to the same rhythm. He tilted his head upward…

And screamed.

The scream was at such an unbearable level. The occupants had to cover their ears. Then, the world stopped making sense. Suddenly, Frostbite, Clockwork, Pandora, and Dora burst through the door. A ray of ice was fired to freeze Danny in place, but it didn't work, shattering after barely a second. The screaming continued. The energy pulses were visible now, faded green disturbances in the air, radiating from his body. The clock on the time ghost's staff exploded apart, all of the pieces flying in separate directions. Something in the atmosphere snapped, all of the tension breaking loose. The power simply poured off Danny now, swirling around him violently. The new wind blew at everyone, pushing them every which way. The half-ghost's scream rose another notch, acquiring a higher pitch. What happened next was something that would be impossible to forget.

The fabric of reality ripped itself apart. Time ceased to exist, the room around them fell apart, becoming a mixture of black and ominous colors. Doors flew around them; the lairs of other ghosts. Parts of this place faded into the human world before flickering out. Still, Danny screamed.

"Clockwork, what's happening?!" Pandora demanded.

"Reality has stopped existing!" he replied, not taking his eyes off of Danny. "Our chance will come any moment now." A center of calm then appeared around Danny, as if he were the eye of the storm. The screaming stopped, bringing the world into complete silence. Something red started to peel away from his body, trying to detach itself from its host, but failing. It pulled harder, stretching itself farther away. Clockwork looked at it intently. "Now!"

The ancient ghosts rushed forward. Frostbite and Dora grabbed onto the still boy while Pandora and Clockwork stood before him.

"Ready?" the warrior woman asked.

Clockwork nodded and held up the amulet. He placed it around Danny's neck hastily. The thing instantly revolted, flaring a violent red color and tugging desperately. Clockwork and Pandora exchanged a look quickly before holding their hands in front of them, charging them with a strange blue-white energy unlike anything else in the Ghost Zone. It looked like magic. From behind Danny, Frostbite and Dora did the same. All at once, as if there had been some cue, they released the energy. It slammed into Danny, starting the screams back up again. But they were short lived. In one catastrophic second, the apocalypse reached its fullest extent as the amulet snapped off of Danny's neck and flew away. Clockwork caught it.

The world settled down, returning to normal. It wasn't Danny's room that surrounded them, though. It was Clockwork's castle. The class dropped into heaps all over the place now that the wind had stopped. Danny fell right in the middle of it all. Off to the side, Clockwork clutched the amulet. He carefully placed it under a glass case that was pulled back into a vault and was locked behind several sturdy doors, meant to never be reached again. He turned back to the group, all of which were unconscious. The time ghost sighed.

"When he wakes up," he said aloud, "we owe him an explanation."

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**Painfully short, I know, but that was the best place to stop it. Luckily, by some miracle, I managed to get enough time and inspiration to write the next chapter. I'll probably have it up soon.**


	14. Explanations

**Again, very short, but it explains all that has happened and what really went down.**

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Danny groaned. His head hurt. Taking a gasping breath, he opened his eyes and tried to stand up. He only managed a sitting position when a purple-gloved hand reached down to him. Danny looked up into the eyes of Clockwork. He was stunned, but hesitantly took the time ghost's hand. In a moment, he was up on his feet.

"C-Clockwork?" Danny rasped out. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," the elder began. "But one you need to know."

The boy nodded. "I'm listening."

"A while ago, I foresaw an upcoming disturbance of epic proportions. Until then, it was almost unnoticeable. I couldn't have noticed it because I couldn't _see_ it. That area in time was an unpredictable patch. Now, you of all people know that the future is subject to change, so I hadn't thought much of the constant shifts, even when they became more frequent. But once I focused on this patch and everything connected to it, I realized what was going on. That one section was completely unpredictable. As it grew closer, the possible futures became blurrier and blurrier until I could only make out a scarce few. By studying both the past and those possible futures, I figured out what was wrong. You were harboring a large amount of varying power. You see, you had come in contact with ten major ghostly artifacts that each held their own special power over the course of a concentrated amount of time. If one being uses one of those objects for too long, they become corrupted, completely absorbed by its power. Pariah Dark, for instance. He was obsessed with the Crown of Fire and Ring of Rage. The power of those items did that to him. However, you only touched each of these items for brief periods of time. While their full energy didn't leak out into you, a small amount escaped except for in the cases of the Control Staff and the Reality Gauntlet, which were both destroyed by you and therefore their full power dissolved into you. All of this energy built up, not having enough time in between to slowly leak out like it would most ghosts, and banded together, twisting itself with your own powers. This theory was much rougher when I created it, though.

"I talked to the other higher ghosts as well as a group of your ghostly allies. We made a plan to get you into the Ghost Zone and keep you here until we could separate that very dangerous amount of power you held. To make sure you stayed here, we combined our powers and closed off all portals between the human and ghost realms. We did not account for the fact that the power of the Reality Gauntlet and the Infi-Map would activate itself within you and create a portal that would vacuum your friends in.

"These new complications drastically altered our plans. At first, we weren't telling you what was really happening for your own benefit. The emotional effect it would have on you could catastrophically activate all of the powers at once and rip apart the very threads of reality before we could do anything about it. But then when they came along, it was harder because we would be risking the lives of those humans. We could not offer to let them stay in any of our domains. You would no doubt visit often and, not only were the other occupants afraid of what could happen, but we did not want that ticking time bomb to go off in our homes.

"You started showing signs, then, of the disaster that was soon to come. Migraines, temporary power failures, loss of strength and control…that was only the start. Each of the items' powers seemed to increase within you until they leaked out. For example, my Time Medallion. It may not have controlled time, but it offered a temporary release from it in which everything slowed down for you. Both Dora and Aragon's Amulets pulled out powers similar to theirs. And that's only the beginning of it. I'm sure you can figure out the rest on your own.

"The council and I were growing nervous about how we would end all this, going on only hunches and guesses. But everything went smoothly in the end. Right as the powers reached their peak, they began to tear apart reality. In that moment, they were strong enough that they could make an attempt to separate themselves from you in a new being. It was at that time that we were able to extract them and store them in a special amulet that is currently in the most secure part of this entire structure."

It took Danny a second to register all of that. Wow. That was…something. Very confusing and overwhelming, at least. Finally, he remembered something of great importance. "Wait, but where is everyone?"

Clockwork smiled. "Back at camp. I was given permission to replace all of their memories. As far as they know, after you left everything went smoothly and without interruption."

"Sam and Tucker…"

"Don't remember a thing, either. It would be better for them not to recall this unfortunate ordeal, don't you think?"

Danny nodded, staring at the floor for a while. No one remembered what happened. Not even Sam and Tucker. Mostly, he was relieved. His class members would go on without this on their minds. As for Sam and Tucker; at first he regretted it. He couldn't share this with his best friends. But then he understood what Clockwork did and agreed with it. The memory would only cause them pain. It was unpleasant. If he truly cared for their happiness, he wouldn't put this burden on their shoulders as well. He'd have to carry it all by himself. But it was better that way.

"So this whole thing…was one big plan?" the boy asked, wanting a final confirmation.

"Yes, a plan that seems to have worked perfectly. You needn't worry about this again. Everything is fine now," Clockwork assured. "But now you have a choice. Do you wish to stay here in the Ghost Zone or return to camp?"

"I think," Danny responded, "that I'll go back to camp first thing tomorrow. No offence, but I really need some normalcy."

The elder's lips tilted upward and he nodded. "I understand. Then, if that is the case, farewell, Danny Phantom. Let us hope that your next visit will be under better circumstances."

"Yeah. Bye, Clockwork," Danny bid. He waved quickly to the ghost before flying out of the castle and toward his lair. He had a lot to think about. Besides, he needed a few hours of rest. This whole adventure had left him completely exhausted.

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**Now I just have to post the epilogue. But in case you are wondering, yes, Danny has actually come into contact with ten ghostly artifacts. I'll even list them for you along with what episode they came from _in chronicalogical order_, I might add.**

**(1) Dora's Amulet: Parental Bonding**

**(2) Fright Knight's Soul Shredder: Fright Night**

**(3) Freakshow's Staff/Control Staff: Control Freaks**

**(4) Crown of Fire: Reign Storm**

**(5) Time Medallion: Ultimate Enemy**

**(6) Aragon's Amulet: Beauty Marked**

**(7) Scarab Scepter: King Tuck**

**(8) Reality Gauntlet: Reality Trip**

**(9) Infi-Map: Infinate Realms**

**(10) Pandora's Box: Boxed Up Fury**

**Before anyone asks, Danny never actually _touched_ the Ring of Rage in Reign Storm.**


	15. Epilogue

**And now to wrap it all up with a nice pretty bow.**

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Danny smiled as he listened to his two friends chat on the bus back home. Behind him, he could hear complaints from the nerds that Dash was picking on and the pointless chatter between the once-again-perky Paulina and her best friend, Star. It was so good to be surrounded by normalcy again.

"Hey, dude," Tucker cut in, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sam continued, "you've been awful quiet since you got back from the Ghost Zone. Are you sure nothing happened that you want to tell us about?"

"Nah," Danny answered. "I'm just a little tired is all. Man, I can't wait to get back home."

"A soft bed and good food," Tucker agreed. "Mmm, can't wait. I hope Mom makes her famous meatloaf tonight."

At that point, Sam butted in, telling him a million things about his favorite dish that he probably didn't want to know or didn't really care about. The half-ghost laughed to himself quietly as he shifted his gaze to the window. He didn't take in the fast moving scenery. His mind was somewhere completely different. Yes, it would feel good to be home and back to his not-so-normal normal routine, but he knew that he would feel a little different now. Physically, he was the same as ever, but mentally, there were still traces of wariness that lingered. He'd be more cautious now, he knew. He couldn't afford to _not_ take in and analyze every detail. For all he knew, one of those little things could make him experience something like this all over again and that was definitely something he wanted to avoid. Eventually, the paranoia might lessen to the point where he'd be almost exactly like before, but he doubted that he could go without taking a double look at things now.

But he could handle it.

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A few hours later, the bus pulled up in front of his house. His friends had already gotten off at their houses, so he was the last of the trio to leave. He hauled his luggage out of the bus compartment and lugged it up his front steps. The bus roared off behind him as he swung open the door.

Instantly, he was barricaded with cries of "Welcome home, Danny!" and hugs from all of his family members. He returned each of them with as much enthusiasm as he could muster right now. It was nice, though. It felt just like before he left for camp.

And, right now, there was nothing better than that.

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**Yeah, I couldn't find a better way to end it. Oh, well.**


End file.
